Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Pirated AI Training Data

Recent court filings in the case Kadrey v. Meta reveal that Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of a dataset containing pirated books and articles to train Meta's Llama AI, a move that has sparked controversy among authors including Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The documents indicate that Meta employees were aware of the dataset, LibGen, being pirated and went so far as to strip copyright information from the material to conceal the infringement. This situation raises significant legal and ethical questions about how tech companies source data for AI development, as the use of pirated content could lead to severe legal penalties and reputational damage for Meta. The company argues that its actions could fall under fair use protections, but many creators dispute this claim, highlighting the contentious nature of copyright in AI training. If the allegations are proven true, Meta could face fines and legal repercussions while damaging trust with stakeholders and users. The ongoing scrutiny reflects broader issues within the tech industry regarding data usage and intellectual property rights.